First of Kind: Daily Summaries Delivered

Karri Saarinen: How We Win

Can a designer/founder win the VC game by ignoring all its rules?Karri Saarinen is the co-founder and CEO of Linear, the product development system for teams and agents. A Finnish designer, he was previously the principal designer at Airbnb and the founding designer at Coinbase.In this conversation with Soleio at his historic barn in Silicon Valley, Karri explains why Linear set out to win by being better instead of faster, why quality is directional and never static, why he still designs in Figma instead of code, and why the interface still matters as a shared source of truth in a world brimming with agents.Karri lives the example that a design founder can choose the races worth running and win by their own rules.00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules03:12 Quality Is Directional06:24 Do You Design in Code?15:45 Owning the Problem22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker26:36 The Bull Case for Design28:45 Do We Still Need UI?33:02 The Car Designer of Software37:37 School Feels Fake40:59 Never Build the MVP43:56 Clarity of Scope45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate—First of Kind @firstofkindS3:E03 Karri Saarinen: How We Winfeaturing Karri Saarinen https://x.com/karrisaarinenhosted by Soleio https://x.com/soleio @soleiocoproduced with Room 3 https://room3nyc.com @room3nyc—First of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer – https://framer.comNoon – https://noon.designGrok Bot – https://x.ai/botRamp – https://ramp.comVercel – https://vercel.comGranola – https://granola.aiProfound – https://tryprofound.com—First of Kind is available wherever you enjoy premium content:YouTube: https://youtube.com/@firstofkindInstagram: https://instagram.com/firstofkind𝕏: https://x.com/firstofkindThreads: https://threads.com/firstofkindWebsite: https://firstofkind.comHashtag: #FirstofKind

Jason Yuan: For the Plot

How can being a playwright prepare one for designing social intelligence?Jason Yuan is the CEO and founder of Hivemind. A former Apple designer, he pioneered MercuryOS, an early vision of intent-based computing, then cofounded Dot, a personal AI companion with long-term narrative memory. He now sets off to build a second AI startup inspired by the Madonna song “Future Lovers.”In this conversation with Soleio, Jason explains why Hivemind runs on principles instead of rules, why every relationship is a story with shared authorship, and why his product motto is “for the plot.”Jason makes the case that the best products, like the best stories, are based on truth. A truth that is fundamentally plural.00:00 Own Your Story, Do It True00:49 Costumes, Stages, then World-Building03:03 Hivemind in the Wild08:42 From MercuryOS to Dot13:20 Did You Make a Startup to Fix Yourself?16:47 Every Relationship is a Story19:35 The Graveyard Before Hivemind22:25 Can Jason See Gotham?28:13 Do It for The Plot!29:13 Designing the Hivemind launch32:48 The Information Market34:45 Making Work That Feels True41:02 Being Known Is the Most Wonderful ThingS3:E02 Jason Yuan: For the PlotHosted by Soleio https://x.com/soleio @soleioCoproduced with Room 3: https://room3nyc.com @room3nycJason Yuan: https://x.com/jasonyuanFirst of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer – https://framer.comNoon – https://noon.designGrok Bot – https://x.ai/botRamp – https://ramp.comVercel – https://vercel.comGranola – https://granola.aiProfound – https://tryprofound.comYouTube: https://youtube.com/@firstofkind𝕏: https://x.com/firstofkindThreads: https://threads.com/firstofkindInstagram: https://instagram.com/firstofkindWebsite: https://firstofkind.comHashtag: #FirstofKind

Guillermo Rauch: One Stroke Dragon

What can a dragon painted in a single stroke teach us about software?Guillermo Rauch is the founder and CEO of Vercel. Growing up in Argentina, he taught himself English in order to teach himself programming, then went on to create Socket.io and other foundational technology for the real-time web. Along the way, he developed a cunning designer’s eye that became the competitive advantage for what is now a multi-billion dollar venture.In this conversation with Soleio, Guillermo explains why he designed Vercel’s first command line in Sketch before writing any code, why layout shift erodes trust, and why his company won’t commit any “random acts of AI.”Guillermo makes the case for why he’s not just chief executive. He is also chief designer.00:00 Human Effort Is Still Underrated00:44 Chief Executive, Chief Designer02:33 Two Bets: Software and English05:15 Gmail Was My Siren Call11:06 Exposure Hours14:49 Layout Shift and the One Stroke Dragon17:10 No Random Acts of Al25:17 Can Agents Have Taste?30:15 Software Factories and Agent Customers34:59 Everything Is Communication38:04 A New American Story41:52 LifemaxxingS3:E01 Guillermo Rauch: One Stroke DragonHosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3: room3nyc.com @room3nycGuillermo Rauch: x.com/rauchg · rauchg.comFirst of Kind is powered byFramer: framer.comNoon: noon.designGrok Bot: x.ai/botRamp: ramp.comVercel: vercel.comGranola: granola.aiProfound: tryprofound.comWebsite: firstofkind.comYouTube: youtube.com/@firstofkind𝕏: x.com/firstofkindThreads: threads.com/firstofkind_Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_Hashtag: #FirstofKind

Everett Katigbak: Indie Streak

Joseph Cohen: Infinite Ride

Koen & Jorn: Framer Reloaded

Katie Dill: Quality Control

What can flying teach us about software design? Katie Dill has built world-class teams at three iconic companies—Stripe, Lyft and Airbnb—proving that thoughtful design can shape quality at industrial scale. In this conversation with Soleio, Katie describes her winding path into technology and how fields as disparate as architecture and aviation shape her approach to leading design at Stripe. 00:00 – Intro: It's All About Mileage 02:18 – What Flying Teaches You About Design 07:01 – From History to Design School 10:30 – The IDEO Moment 18:01 – Saying Yes to the Scary Thing 19:46 – The Chair Pullback 21:16 – The Gray Room at Airbnb 25:47 – Breaking Down the Ivory Tower 30:05 – Put In the Mileage 33:35 – Beauty Builds Trust 36:53 – Steam Gauges and Simple Systems 38:53 – The Best Checkout in the World Katie Dill: Quality Control First of Kind, S2:E3 Hosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3: room3nyc.com First of Kind is powered by our sponsors: Framer — framer.com Cursor — cursor.com Vercel — vercel.com Profound — tryprofound.com Website: www.firstofkind.com 𝕏: x.com/firstofkind_ Threads: threads.com/firstofkind_ Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_ Hashtag: #FirstofKind

Ryo Lu: The Way

What is the future of design in a post-AI world? Ryo Lu pioneered new patterns for collaboration as founding designer at Notion. He now leads design at Cursor, shaping how software gets built through a fusion of design and engineering. In this conversation with Soleio, he explains Cursor's approach to design and how the product will evolve to empower designers who build. 00:00 – Intro: The future of design 01:49 – What is design at Cursor? 02:50 – How the team actually works 04:46 – Generalists, Self-Starters, Ex-Founders 07:34 – Building Cursor inside Cursor 10:45 – The next level: Agents & Abstraction 13:48 – Pattern language 18:24 – A lingua franca for builders 20:34 – Baby Cursor 23:45 – The new shape of designer 26:10 – Does AI distribute or concentrate power? 29:43 – Why Cursor is the tool you should learn 30:54 – A new design philosophy 32:36 – Where the path leads S2:E2 Ryo Lu: The Way Hosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3 (www.room3nyc.com) First of Kind is powered by our sponsors: Framer: framer.com Cursor: cursor.com Vercel: vercel.com Profound: tryprofound.com Website: www.firstofkind.com Threads: threads.com/firstofkind_ Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_ X: x.com/firstofkind_ Hashtag: #FirstofKind